Future students

One of the reasons that Waterloo has become a vibrant startup community is because of the tech founders who are engineering graduates or researchers of the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Engineering. As Canada’s #1 engineering research university “Waterloo Engineering,” is known as a powerhouse of research talent and a magnet for graduate students looking to change the world.

Climate change and extreme weather continue to dominate headlines around the world. From devastating fires to unprecedented flooding, shifting to mitigation and adaptation strategies is crucial.

There’s no single approach to solving this global issue. Monitoring and managing complex natural systems requires interdisciplinary solutions.

It was an idea a Capstone Design team felt not only had merit but could potentially give barbershop owners a run for their money: a haircutting robot.

Two years ago, four mechatronics engineering students started working on a design for a robot that would primarily give men’s haircuts. You’d put a toonie in a slot and walk away with a number two buzz cut or another style.

Playing competitive online poker was so lucrative for Prem Kalevar (BASc ’12, Mechatronics) — earning him more than $400,000 in his last year of university alone — he considered turning his serious sideline into a full-time career.

But after watching classmates succeed as entrepreneurs and pursuing several business interests himself, including a student rental property and two technology startups, he opted to aim higher instead.

“I didn’t want to make my life about a card game,” he says.

From the design of the Waterloo Pump, which brought clean water to communities in developing countries, to the invention of the BlackBerry, which opened the floodgates for the ubiquitous smartphone, Waterloo Engineering students, graduates and researchers have made an indelible mark on the world.

And in a technological age that includes artificial intelligence, ever-faster wireless communications and soon-to-be-self-driving vehicles, that process of innovation and contribution is only accelerating.

More young women are likely to go into engineering if it is promoted as a profession for well-rounded people with a desire to serve society, researchers at Waterloo Engineering have found.

The results suggest that efforts to close the field’s gender gap should stress key reasons for women to pursue engineering in addition to the current approach of instilling confidence in their technical and academic abilities to succeed.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology may soon make it easier and cheaper to detect problems with roads, bridges, buildings and other infrastructure.

Systems design engineering professor John Zelek has developed artificial intelligence (AI) technology to automatically detect potholes and other road defects using photographs.

A robot glides across a warehouse floor, picks up an object from a top shelf, boxes it and then carefully loads the wrapped package on a delivery truck – all in record time and without bumping into anything.